Does Queen's University accept French A: Literature HL?
Kingston, ON
Yes, Transfer Credit Available!
Minimum Grade Required
Credit Granted
FREN 2UNS (6.0 units)
Generic Credit: Counts as an elective, but may not replace a mandatory prerequisite for your major.
Health Sciences students: A score of 6 or higher is required to use this credit as a prerequisite for upper-year FREN courses. A score of 5 grants the 6.0 units but may not unlock upper-year registration.
Engineering exception: In Smith Engineering, French A or B HL is credited as 6.0 units toward Complementary Studies (Performance Arts & Languages), not as FREN 150. Max 6.0 Complementary Studies units from all IB credits combined.
Course note: FREN 150 is a legacy course code — it has been replaced by FREN 151 (3.0) and FREN 152 (3.0). The IB transfer credit still maps to FREN 150 and satisfies the same prerequisites.
💡Expert's Take
Yes — Queen's grants 6.0 units for IB French A: Literature HL (score of 5+), but the credit is unspecified, which carries real limitations. Across most faculties, students receive FREN 2UNS — a 200-level unspecified French credit that counts toward your degree's unit total but does not serve as a prerequisite for upper-year French courses. This is a fundamentally different award from what French A: Language and Literature HL students receive, and the distinction matters if you have any plans involving French at Queen's (Queen's IB transfer credit tables).
The critical difference lies in how Queen's distinguishes between the two IB French A streams. If you took French A: Language and Literature HL, you receive FREN 150 — a specified equivalent that directly maps to Queen's intermediate French course and acts as a prerequisite gateway for upper-year FREN courses at the standard minimum score of 5. (Health Sciences is the one exception: that faculty requires a score of 6 or higher to use FREN 150 for prerequisite access.) If you took French A: Literature HL, you instead receive FREN 2UNS — an unspecified credit at the 200 level. The "UNS" designation means Queen's recognizes the work is at an advanced level but has not matched it to a specific course in their catalogue. This credit counts toward your degree's total units, but it does not unlock any prerequisite chains. In practical terms, FREN 2UNS is treated as elective credit.
This distinction is consistent across nearly every faculty at Queen's — Arts, Science, Computing, Health Sciences, Nursing, and Smith Commerce all award FREN 2UNS for French A: Literature HL. The one exception is Smith Engineering, where IB French A (either stream) is grouped together and awarded as 6.0 units of "Performance Arts and Languages" credit, counting toward the faculty's Complementary Studies requirements.
What to watch for:
- If you're considering a French Minor, Major, or Specialization: The gateway into all French degree plans is now FREN 152 (preceded by FREN 151). French A: Language and Literature HL students with FREN 150 can use that credit and potentially skip ahead, but French A: Literature HL students with FREN 2UNS will likely still need to take the French Studies placement test to determine where they enter the course sequence. The unspecified credit sits on your transcript as elective units — it does not substitute for any required plan courses.
- The score-of-6 rule is Health Sciences–specific: For French A: Language and Literature HL, the Health Sciences faculty requires a score of 6+ to use FREN 150 for prerequisite access to upper-year FREN courses. Other faculties do not impose this additional threshold — a score of 5 is sufficient. Since French A: Literature HL awards FREN 2UNS (which carries no prerequisite access regardless of score or faculty), the distinction between a 5 and a 7 has no practical impact on course sequencing — you receive the same 6.0 elective units either way.
- Credit deadline: You must submit your IB results to Queen's by the end of fall term of your first year. Students who miss this deadline are considered to have declined transfer credit, and this decision is irreversible.
Strategic advice: If you are not pursuing French Studies, FREN 2UNS is straightforward value — 6.0 units of elective credit toward your degree with no strings attached. Accept it and move on. If you are planning to study French, contact the Department of French Studies before your first term to discuss placement. The department's Undergraduate Chair handles transfer credit questions and special permissions, and they can advise on whether your FREN 2UNS credit can count toward plan requirements or whether you'll need to supplement it with additional coursework. Given that the department now requires FREN 152 as the gateway course (a recent change from the old FREN 150 gateway), the specific impact of your unspecified credit on your plan progression is worth clarifying early — before course selection locks you into a sequence that adds unnecessary time to your degree.
Official award line (IB French A: Literature HL):
Minimum score: 5
Credit granted (Arts, Science, Computing, Health Sciences, Nursing, Smith Commerce): FREN 2UNS — 6.0 units (unspecified 200-level French)
Credit granted (Smith Engineering): Performance Arts and Languages — 6.0 units (Complementary Studies)
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Your Potential Savings
Credits Earned
6
= Full-year equivalent
Ontario Resident
~$200-494/credit
~$1,200 - $2,964
Est. Savings
Out-of-Province
~$200-600/credit
~$1,200 - $3,600
Est. Savings
International
~$1,126-1,844/credit
~$6,756 - $11,064
Est. Savings
(Commerce/Eng higher)
*Tuition rates are for 2025-2026 and vary by faculty. Always verify with Queen's official sources before making decisions.
📊 Compare French A: Literature HL at Other Universities
See how French A: Literature HL transfer credits compare across Canadian universities. Each school has different grade requirements and savings potential.
McGill University
Montreal, QC
Min Grade
5/7
Credit Granted
FREN 1XX (6 credits)
(6 credits)
Est. Savings
$2,520
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, BC
Min Grade
5/7
Credit Granted
SFU FREN 1XX (6), or SFU FREN 1XX (3) + ...
(6 credits)
Est. Savings
$1,398
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB
Min Grade
6/7
Credit Granted
FREN 100-level (3 units) + FREN 211 (3 u...
(6 credits)
Est. Savings
$1,302
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC
Min Grade
5/7
Credit Granted
FREN_V 311 + FREN_V 3rd-year level (6 cr...
(6 credits)
Est. Savings
$1,242
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, ON
Min Grade
5/7
Credit Granted
FR 1XX (0.5 units) — Elective credit
(1 credit)
Est. Savings
$450
Tip: Different provinces have different tuition rates. Use these comparisons to find the best value for your residency status.
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Data Disclaimer
This information is compiled from Queen's University official sources and verified community reports. It is NOT a substitute for official academic advising. Always confirm with your advisor before making decisions.
Last updated: December 2025
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